Truss



(No Model.)

J. C. RORICK.

l TRUSS. N0. 404,307. Patented May 28, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN O. RORICK, OF lVAUSEON, OHIO.

TRUSS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 404,307, dated May 28,1889. Application tiled February 13, 1888- Serial No. 263,775. (Nomodel.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN C. RORICK, a citizen of the UnitedSt-ates,residing at Wauseon, Fulton county, Ohio, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Trusses, of which the following is aspecication.

My invention relates more particularly to hollow elastic rubber truss-pads and the means for attaching the same to their supports. Intruss-pads of this class heretofore in use the method of attaching thepad to its plate has been to rivet or stitch the parts together, or toprovide the pad-plate with a socket-opening the edge of which embracesthe pad in a recess formed on the pad for that purpose. Such pads havealso been held in cup-shaped sockets, and have sometimes been moldedwith broad base-plates, which have been attached to belts, bands, orsprings by means of rivets. These pads have also been secured to bandsand plates by means of a ring and plate engaging a neck vand ange formedon the pad. The use of rivets and stitches is obviouslyunsatisfactoryfor the reason that soft rubber is soon cut, torn, or worn thereby, andbecause such pads lack adjustability. In trusses in which pads rest incup-shaped sockets or are held in place by the contact of the elasticmaterial with the edge of an opening in the socket-plate, the pads arelikely to lose their adjustment by turning or twisting on their axes. Inpads in which a neck and flange on the pad are grasped by a ring andplate so much metal must be employed that the pad is heavy, cumbersome,and uncomfortable to the wearer; also, in some instances, solidtruss-pads have been formed of rubber vulcanized, (which of course makesit hard and nonelastic,) upon an oblong plate formed integral withanother similar plate and connected with the same by a single continuousor two or more necks, and this last-mentioned plate has an extendedintegral arm by which the pawl is secured to a belt or other holdingdevice; also, in some instances air-pads have been formed with anannular aircushion surrounding and partially forming a socket upon theouter side of the pad adapted to removably receive a button, by means ofwhich the pad is connected to the belt, the button merely loosely andremovably fitting in the socket surrounded by the annular air-cushion,and also, in some instances air-pads have been formed of a bag providedwith a tube, by which the bag can be inflated when desired, the pad alsohaving a secondary back attached at its edges to the bag and providedwith an open center through which a piece of leather is inserted andremovably and loosely rests in the socket thus formed, and by means ofthis leather strip the pad can be secured toa belt; but these olddevices are totally diiferent from my invention.

The object of this invention is to obviate the great disadvantages ofthese old devices and to furnish an exceedingly light, cheap, anddurable pad having very pliable and elastic walls, so that should theattachment change its relative position and the pad be moved at the topit will still close the breach and provide an improved, simple, andpractical manner of attaching the air-pad to the arm from the belt.

With these ends in view the invention consists in a hollowpermanently-inflated rubber 'air-pad cast integral, and having an innerconvex face formed by an elastic pliable wall, and a rigid flat rearWall formed by a double thickness of rubber, and a metal plate centrallylocated within and of about the same diameter as the wall, the rubberbeing cast around and completely surrounding said plate, therebypermanently and rigidly securing the same within the rear wall, and oneor more screws extending through the outer rubber portion of the rearwall and formed with or secured to the metal plate.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure l is an elevation of mypad; Fig. 2, a central longitudinal section, Fig. 3 a plan view from theouter side, and Fig. 4 a plan view from the outer side, of amodilication ot my device.

Like letters represent like parts in all the views.

A is a hollow elastic pad ilat on one side and convex or partlyspherical on the other. On the flat side a rim or lip, a, extends fromthe outer edge inwardly nearly or quite to the center. In the space orpocket thus formed,

IOO

between the lip or rim a and the flat side of the pad, plate b is irmlyheld-that is to say,

between the two Hat Walls of rubber a metallic plate, b, is interposed.

In manufacturing my device the plate b is placed in the mold and therubber is cast around the plate so as to embrace it closely, as shown.In manufacturing my device a central opening, c, as in Fig. 3, or tWo ormore openings, as in Fig. 4, are left in a, through which projects screwor screws d from plate l). By means of screw d the pad is attached tothe usual spring plate or band or other support.

It is clearly evident that the old devices before mentioned aredifferent from my construction, Wliich aims at the eXtreme cheap nessand simplicity of the airpad and the peculiar construction whereby itcan be so easily, quickly, and rigidly secured to the belt or an arm ofthe same. One of the old devices mentioned consisted of a solid padformed by vulcanizing rubber on one of two similar plates connected by astem. This merely a solid pad belonging to the same class and possessingthe same disadvantages of wood and ivory pads, while my article belongsto a totally diilerent and distinct class of trally located Within andof about the same diameter as the Wall, the rubber being cast around andcompletely surrounding said plate, thereby permanently and rigidlysecuring the same Within the rear Wall, and one or more screws or lugsextending through the outer rubber portion of the rear wall and securedto or form ed with the plate, as s et forth.

JOHN C. RORICK. lVitnesses:

JAMES S. I'ZRAILEv, XV. l). HAGAR.

